Bowland Brewery ramps up fundraising with Whirlybird Ball

Beer has been saving lives for centuries: it was imbibed when the water became too dirty, was used as medicine throughout the ages and has consistently proved a lot cheaper than therapy.

‘Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy,’ said Benjamin Franklin as he helped found the United States of America.

That trend is continuing in modern Britain thanks to Bowland Brewery, which donates 10p of every pint of Whirlybird ale sold to the North West Air Ambulance.

Whirlybird ale is proving very popular and we are delighted to support the NWAA, Andrew Warburton

The ‘whirly bird’ patrols the skies above Lancashire, Cumbria and Greater Manchester 365 days a year, and regularly saves lives by carrying critically injured people to hospital far quicker than an ambulance could. There are also doctors and nurses on board that can treat casualties instantly upon landing.

But the NHS does not fund it. The NWAA (not to be confused with the gangster rapper collective) is a charity and it costs £13,500 to keep it airborne. That requires an enormous fundraising effort and Bowland has stepped up to the plate.

‘Whirlybird ale is proving very popular and we are delighted to support the NWAA,’ said Andrew Warburton, director of the brewery, which is based at Holmes Mill in Clitheroe.

To ramp up fundraising, the brewery is launching the Whirlybird Ball at a function room in Clitheroe, and it has also come up with a pub quiz to help on-trade operators that sell the ale, including prizes provided by the brewery.

‘We are looking forward to raising lots more money and having plenty of fun at the same time,’ said Warburton. ‘Whether it’s at the beer hall or in one of the many pubs stocking Bowland Ales, or at the Whirlybird Ball, every pint sold carries a donation.’